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: Sex Offender Issues, News, Recidivism and Studies

Courts should admit if "emperor wears no clothes"

By "eAdvocate"

10-9-2010 Washington: SVP evidence must meet legal admissibility standards, cautions high court justice in Washington The Supreme Court of Washington has made it easier for some civilly committed Sexually Violent Predators (SVP's) to challenge their detentions. In a 5-4 ruling, the high court struck down a state law restricting what types of evidence a sex offender may introduce to show he is no longer dangerous. Under the invalidated law, an offender could only petition for release based on reduced risk due to either treatment or permanent physiological changes. An offender could not claim, for example, that he no longer met the legal criteria for civil commitment (having a mental disorder that made him more likely than not to reoffend sexually) based solely on advancing age or maturation, even though these factors are strongly associated with desistance...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sex Offender Issues, News, Recidivism and Studies on October 09, 2010 (boomark / email).